drank Earl Grey by Zest Tea
201 tasting notes

drags broken body out of the abyss

So. How about that 2021?

Anyway, to give the most vague of updates, ish happened, ish is still happening, and I am trying to deal with ish. So, naturally, I have been pounding espresso rather than tea to try and deal. But tonight, my silly butt thought consuming half a pack of cookies was smart and now I need tea to counteract the diabetic shakes.

So, here we are. This came from one of the tea boxes that I received AGES ago. Shae sent it so very long ago and I never really got a chance to review any of it. But, in my quest for a super strong black tea, I found this one at the bottom of the box. Lets see how it turns out.

Steeped boiling water 5 minutes.

Taste is… wow for something advertised as “High octane” that’s surprisingly un-bitter. Not completely un-bitter of course, plus the bitterness really lingers in the after sip. But it has a pretty decent flavor to it. I can taste the bergamot and the tea, although the flavors are rather muted. Probably due to how long it’s sat in the box in my drawer. But I can definitely say it’s pleasent to drink. A nice balance to it and a lovely earl grey flavor that has me constantly reaching back for another sip.

Also, as it’s cooling, I’m noticing more citrusy notes. Yep, for sure. That citrus is really coming through now. That’s pretty cool. I should probably mention I’m drinking this straight as, in my experience, the whole “anti-sugar shock” effect of black tea only works when you don’t add anything to it. You can’t even add splenda or any sugar substitute. You just make the tea and down it straight. Thankfully I have a huge selection of black tea for the frequent nights that I muk up my blood sugar (because, despite being a diabetic, I have the worlds biggest sweet tooth.)

Anyway, I can’t tell how potent the caffeine this is yet, other than knowing I don’t feel as groggy and awful as I did twenty minutes ago. How much of that is the black tea effect and how much is the caffeine, I have no idea. But just know that this tea is pretty dang good and now I’m going to have to try and find more.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Earl Grey

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Roswell Strange

Hello from the abyss!

ashmanra

Welcome back! Climb on out and stay a while!

Martin Bednář

It seems this year was hard for everyone. I am much less active here too, so don’t worry about a few days without writing anything. Honestly, only full month of notes is so far only December… because Advent teas :D

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Comments

Roswell Strange

Hello from the abyss!

ashmanra

Welcome back! Climb on out and stay a while!

Martin Bednář

It seems this year was hard for everyone. I am much less active here too, so don’t worry about a few days without writing anything. Honestly, only full month of notes is so far only December… because Advent teas :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

HELLO! My name is Shanie and I love tea!

While I have always loved various types of tea, for a very long time it came exclusively from a grocery store. It’s only been a year or so now that I’ve gotten into loose leaf. As such, there will likely be tasting notes I do for bagged tea as well as good quality (and not so good quality) loose leaf teas. I’m still learning as I go so have patience please!

Right now, I am on a massive Earl Grey kick. So if a ton of my notes are just various varieties of EG, that’s why!

Some of my favorite flavors include: Cocoa, Malt, Bread, Honey, Earthy, Sweet Citrus, Caramel, Apple, Spices, and Cinnamon.

Some flavors I don’t like: Licorice, Coconut, Bitey Citrus (like Citric Acid), Licorice, Sour, Smoke, Overpowering Fake Vanilla, Stevia, and did I mention Licorice?

NOTE: I am Type 2 Diabetic. As such, I can really not have sugar added to tea without suffering problems. This prohibits me from using either plain sugar or honey. Instead, I use Splenda as I found my system can handle it well and I like the flavor. I try to avoid stevia as I’ve found it often ruins the flavor of tea. However, not all teas require sweetener, and some are better without. Because of this, if I add sweetener to a tea, I will mention it in the tasting note and say what kind and how much. Usually, I sweeten flavored and herbal teas but leave true teas unsweetened. There are exceptions, but this is a general rule of thumb to go by.

Almost all of the tea I brew is western style. I occasionally do grandpa, but pretty much never Gong-fu. I do own a Gaiwan, but it never gets used. Considering I don’t have a “sip setting” when it comes to beverages, it’s really hard for me to get into any sized amount less than 8oz at a time. I know that probably makes me a tea-heathen, but so be it. I like my mugs.

I have decided to try and make a scale for my ratings. So here goes.

As of January 2020.

100-91: These are my go-to favorites. I will likely go out of my way to always keep these on hand, including going on third party websites to obtain out of season.
90-81: This is a tea I really did enjoy, and I will likely purchase again. However, I wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth for it, and it isn’t my all-time favorite.
80-71 This is a tea that, while I may have somewhat enjoyed, something is holding me back from making it a mainstay. Maybe the flavor profile isn’t the best. Maybe there is an offputting aftertaste. It varies. But while I did like it and will continue to drink it, I don’t absolutely need it in my life, and while I will likely finish what I have, I may or may not get more.
70-61: This is a tea which I drank, but I didn’t like it. However, I didn’t hate it either. It wasn’t bad enough to dump, and if it is the only thing available to drink, I would likely drink it instead of plain water. But in the end, this is just not my literal cup of tea and I will likely not get this again.
60-51: This is something that I didn’t like much at all, but for one reason or another, refused to dump. If I squint hard enough and use my imagination, I can almost BS myself into thinking they are decent, and I suppose I can choke it down and not waste it. These are teas that I will not be buying again, and may not even finish what I have.
50-41: Yeah, whatever this is, I there’s a good chance I dumped it. At this level, it’s pretty bad stuff with either weak flavor, nasty flavor, or all the wrong flavors, It has few redeeming qualities, and I likely won’t reach for this one again. On the bright side, it isn’t sewage water, so there’s that.
40-31. On it’s best day this tea has no redeeming qualities. This not only got dumped but the package it came in either got thrown away, traded, or shoved to the back of the cupboard to never be touched again. Not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, but darn sure close.
30-Under: The worst thing I’ve ever tasted. This not only has no redeeming qualities, but it is gag-inducing. “Teas” in this range are so bad I not only will never drink them again, I really don’t feel like offloading them onto anyone else because they are just that bad. Actual sewage water.

Location

Pennsylvania, US

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